Many desktop and server computer systems utilize a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) to control various aspects of the computer system. In particular, the BIOS is commonly utilized to perform a power on self-test, to initialize the various hardware components within the computer system, to provide an interface between an operating system executing on the computer system and the hardware, and to perform various other functions.
One type of function provided by the BIOS in some computer systems, is a remote management function. In particular, some computer systems include the ability to redirect the text screen display of the computer through a serial (RS-232) connection to a remote terminal or terminal emulator. Keystroke input may be received from the remote terminal through the serial connection and provided to the computer system as if the keystrokes were generated locally at the computer system. This process of redirecting the text screen displays and keystroke input (referred to herein as “serial redirection”) is commonly utilized by system administrators to administer remote server computers that may not be equipped with a display or a keyboard.
A BIOS redirection component program is responsible for transmitting the text displays to the remote terminal and for receiving keystroke input from the remote terminal. When utilized in conjunction with some 32-bit operating systems, the BIOS redirection component will be overwritten as the operating system performs its initial program load (“IPL” or “boot”) and takes control of various system resources, including system memory. Overwriting the program does not cause a conflict within the computing system. However, serial redirection is no longer possible once the program has been overwritten. This is acceptable because most of the common functions performed using serial redirection (e.g. modifying BIOS settings, selecting boot devices, specifying boot options, etc.) have been completed prior to booting the operating system.
When a BIOS, redirection component program for performing serial redirection is used in conjunction with other 32-bit operating systems that provide a GUI, a serious conflict can arise. In particular, a serious conflict can arise that causes the computer system to crash when the operating system overwrites the system resources utilized by the BIOS redirection component program. In many cases, the conflict renders the entire computing system unusable. Because the conflict only occurs in conjunction with the use of certain operating systems and only when serial redirection is enabled, this conflict can be a very difficult condition to diagnose and can be extremely frustrating for a system administrator.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.